Sage

Sage

The beating of my heart is the first thing I hear, or maybe it’s the first thing I feel. It pounds in my head like a hammer over and over again. This is worse than the most lethal hangover I’ve ever had.

A cool drip constantly hits against my shoulder, causing me to turn my limp neck to the side. Shit, that’s blood. That’s not good. Flashes of the last things I remember flicker before my eyes. The men storming into the house, me trying to fight back and inadvertently losing.

I look around, fully taking in my surroundings, when I notice that I’m tied to a chair, my hands behind my back and my feet roped together. Could they be any more cliché?

I’m in some old bedroom with all the lights off, I see a twin bed in the corner and a plain wooden side table. Other than that, the room is empty apart from a chair in the corner. The window on the wall tells me it’s still nighttime with only a thin stream of moonlight pouring through the window, so at least I haven’t been knocked out for too long, assuming it’s still Monday.

The door opens, and a tattooed man pokes his head in before whispering behind him into the hallway.

“She’s awake.”

A rush of fear clenches my stomach, forcing me to hold my breath as the man disappears from the doorway, and a new man appears in his place, shutting the door behind him. It’s a familiar man, one who I never thought I’d see again. Or at least, I hoped I never would.

It’s funny, being with someone for years who you think you know inside and out, until one day you wake up beside them and have no clue who you’re asleep next to, or what they are capable of.

He looks different. It’s only been about nine months, but in that time, he looks older, more haggard. He looks every bit the biker Prez that he is, and I spot more than a few new tattoo pieces crawling up his neck apart from the required snake tattoo that is reserved for the column of the neck right over his Adam’s apple.

The fear I have for this man isn’t for him solely. It’s for what he’s capable of, for what I feared he would do if he ever found me. I never in my wildest dreams thought that if he did find me and catch me, that he would give me the adoring smile he is right now.

“Hey, firecracker. It’s been a while,” he says, a soft lilt to his voice as he looks at me like I’m a daydream come true.

I do my best to hide my surprise and confusion. If he wants to be pleasant, I’ll play his game until I can figure out how the hell to get out of here.

“Yeah, Alec. How are you?”

“Better now,” he says as he takes several steps toward me before reaching out his hand, running his fingers over my face. I wince when he touches my upper cheek, and a thunderous look crosses his face when he inspects the blood on his fingers.

Fuck, when that guy punched me, he must have split me open. Fucker.

“Don’t worry, firecracker. I’ll kill him before the night is up.”

“Didn’t you want this, though?” I can’t help but ask.

He frowns and shakes his head as he pushes some of my hair out of my face, running his fingers through it like I used to love. Now the motion sends a chill down my spine.

“I never told them to hurt you. I told them to bring you back to me, but not to harm you.”

“Yeah, well, the blood dripping down my shoulder doesn’t reflect that,” I snark.

I can tell he wants to smile at my sass. He always told me it’s why he called me a firecracker because I was small and snappy. It was always his favorite.

“I’m so sorry, baby. Do you want to kill him?”

For a moment, I almost think I see the Alec I fell in love with. But the way his eyes spark to life when he says the word kill tells me he’s so far gone from that person. I mull over his offer though, if I was going to kill this guy, he’d give me a weapon. A weapon I could use to get out of here.

“Sure. Can you cut me loose?” I ask as I wiggle at my restraints.

He smiles sweetly at me as he shakes his head.

“Not yet. My men told me you were a little violent, and I know you don’t cool down that easily. Besides, I haven’t forgotten how you left me.”

Shit. This is not a good direction.

“Why would you do that, firecracker? We were so happy. We were going to get married, have a baby. Why would you leave?” he asks, his voice becoming more manic with every word.

“I didn’t think you missed me. I heard you were fucking Britt after I left. Where is she at?”

That earns me a slap across the face, of course, right across the open cut that has my eyes watering and my teeth sinking into my lip as I bite back my squeal.

“Don’t you dare speak to me like that,” he says, pointing his finger in my face and truly showcasing how fucking insane he’s become.

“She was nothing but a whore to get lost in while I tried to find you. I knew you hated Seattle. I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that you’d come back here. But then when I found out your dad had leased a new condo without selling his house, I knew it had to be for you.”

I nod more to myself than anything as I confirm what I’ve honestly suspected from the beginning but didn’t want to admit.

“So, you’re behind the break-in?”

He shrugs. “It was Pyro’s men. He was gracious enough to send a few over while I handled some business in Santa Fe. Gotta say, I’m more than a little surprised that didn’t send you running home to me,” he says as he runs a hand through his greasy black hair.

I don’t speak as he continues, a dangerous glint in his eye as he watches me.

“Then again, I guess you didn’t need to when you found a cushy place to stay at the football player’s house.”

The mention of Trevor on his lips has fear running through me. Of course he already knows everything about Trevor. He knows that we’ve been together for a while, and he probably already has men after him as we speak. Dear God, I hope he came back to the house and ran like hell. If they find him…I can’t even stomach thinking about it.

Alec’s fingers dance down my neck before wrapping around it, squeezing tightly enough to show he holds all the power but not so much that I can’t breathe.

“That hurt my feelings a lot when I saw the pictures of you two together.”

“What pictures?” I ask evenly.

He smiles and shakes his head.

“C’mon, firecracker. You’re smarter than that. You think I would have my men take you out of nowhere without assessing my surroundings? I didn’t even step foot in Washington until I knew all about Trevor Michaels or Erica Caldwell, Sebastian Caldwell, Slater and Scarlett Santos, and Declan and Vi Daniels. Even the Caldwells’ cute twins, Daphne and Rosalie. They seem to have taken a liking to you. I always knew you were going to make a great mother.”

I do my best not to let my panic show as I keep my breathing even.

“I get it, Alec. You’ve been watching me. I’m sorry I left. I was scared. You hurt me,” I say, straining to put extra emotion into my sentence.

I have a better chance of appealing to him if I tell him I was scared to be hurt than sick of his psychotic, sociopathic bullshit and him beating the living hell out of me was the last straw. His weakness is me. It always has been. Even after he beat me and came down from his high, he couldn’t look at me for days, shame twisting him inside out. I think he truly loves me. I just think this lifestyle combined with the meth has finally gotten to him.

He winces at my words as he brings his forehead to my own, sliding his hand from my throat to the back of my neck to keep me in place.

“I know. I’m so sorry, firecracker. But I won’t hurt you again. You’re always safe with me. You know that, right?” he practically begs.

God, he’s so fucking off his rocker.

“Yeah, baby. I know,” I say as I close my eyes like I’m fighting back the tears. “When can we go home? I just want to go home,” I say as I nuzzle my head into the crook of his neck.

He latches onto the bait like a fish on a hook. He pulls away, angling my head up slightly before crushing his lips to mine. The foul taste of cheap whiskey, cigarettes, and bad breath invade my mouth, and it takes everything in me not to puke. But I put on a show, act like I’ve never enjoyed anything more as he pulls away.

“Soon. I just need to tie up some loose ends first.”

With that, he walks out the door, shutting it behind him and plunging me back into the darkness of the room. I try to wiggle my hands free, but it’s no use. Whoever tied me up did a good fucking job. Too good. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Trevor obviously made it home by now—he had to have. He will have, no doubt, walked in on what looks more like a warzone than his living room. I tried. I fought with everything I had, and it wasn’t enough. Now he has me and a deep vile feeling sinks into my stomach as to what my fate has become, what lies in wait for me.